Why I never come to visit

[pozorvlak]

Go and read the post Ugh Fields on Less Wrong. To take the author's own tl;dr version: Pavlovian conditioning can cause humans to unconsciously flinch from even thinking about a serious personal problem they have, we call it an Ugh Field. The Ugh Field forms a self-shadowing blind spot covering an area desperately in need of optimization, imposing

Comments

[pozorvlak]

my current thesis chapter is inside an ugh field

I'd guess that that experience is almost universal among graduate students...

Find something that makes the travel productive or pleasant.

Ah. I think you've misunderstood me. Once I'm sat on the train/bus/car/plane, the hard part is over - I quite enjoy train travel, and I can at least cope with the others. The actual getting-from-A-to-B is not the problem. The problem is (a) working out all the possible ways you can use to get from A to B, (b) working out all the constraints you have to satisfy, (c) working out which options satisfy all the constraints, (d) choosing an option, (e) fighting through whatever booking systems you're faced with and booking all the necessary tickets, ensuring you've got the right number, date, etc, and (e) I think I need to lie down now. Of course, I've made it sound far simpler than it really is, because (a) - (d) are actually interdependent in a complex way - typically some of your constraints will depend on earlier choices, so you're actually having to do some sort of manual backtracking search, and then there's the risk that there are constraints nobody's bothered to tell you about, and aaargh, aaargh, aaargh.

[susannahf]

ah. That sounds like you're trying to solve an optimisation problem - am I on the right track?
And yes, with the exception of a few people for whom logistics is a vocation, that's horrid. My main solution is to start at (e) - whose web page or booking people would I prefer to deal with, since that is usually the most annoying bit to me. YMMV. But basically, what it boils down to is, I don't optimise. I decide what form of transport (usually train), what day and time, and then try to book it. Only if that is impossible or atrociously expensive do I go back to my initial axioms. Do I get the best value? No, probably not. But I don't tear my hair out, and that is worth something.

[pozorvlak]

And yes, with the exception of a few people for whom logistics is a vocation, that's horrid.

*cough* MP-J *cough*

But basically, what it boils down to is, I don't optimise. I decide what form of transport (usually train), what day and time, and then try to book it.

Thanks! I shall try this. I'll end up spending more for a bit, but hopefully I can banish the negative feelings that are preventing me from realising opportunities. Once I've got that cracked, I can work on depessimisation.

[susannahf]

*cough* MP-J *cough*

You read my mind.

[pozorvlak]

I think that PhD-kryptonite is sapping my Powers of Logistics. Last week I went to Vienna for a conference, and turned up at Heathrow in plenty of time for my flight. Unfortunately, I had booked the flight for the day before, somehow, probably due to having booked it months in advance. After a brief moment of "oh heck!", a phone call and a conversation with two helpful airline staff, I was rebooked onto some slightly different flights and paid a muppet premium of £100. Not too bad given the circumstances.

More seriously, logistophobia tends to be closely allied with perfectionism, a desire for an optimal solution, and a desire not to spend any more money than necessary. If you blend in climate-change guilt too, it can immoblise you very effectively.

Call me if you get stuck, my rates are very reasonable ;-)

[pozorvlak]

That was me. MP-J

[pozorvlak]

I suspected as much :-)